November 10 1975 The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald On Lake Superior

FAOL Community Sound Off
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You know I don’t think any of us, myself included, give much thought to what it takes to make the everyday things of our lives. Not only do we use raw materials from the earth but some soul had to mine or harvest them, ship them, process them, turn into the finished product, ship that product and sell it to us. Anywhere along the way this can become dangerous, even deadly. I remember as a youth calling on the steel mills in Pittsburgh and Youngstown with my dad on those special father takes kids to work days. Even at that tender age it impressed me how dangerous work can be. Injury and even deaths were not uncommon even with modern safety regulations in place on modern equipment.

Such is the case with the Great Lakes ore freighter S.S.Edmund Fitzgerald. On November 10 1975 the “Big Fitz” as they called her departed the Burlington Northern Railroad Dock Number 1 on Lake Superior loaded with taconite and bound for the steel industries of Detroit and Cleveland. That taonite would have been used to make our cars, refrigerators, sheet steel, structual steel, etc… that makes the products we use in our everyday lives. As the Big Fitz steamed across Lake Superior on the night of the 10th of November she was was caught up in a storm of historic proportions. The storm had hurricane force winds with freezing rain and violent high waves.

The storm was so intense that it forced most of the fleet to anchor at safe horbor in White Fish Bay along with many other safe anchorages. However, a few ships were caught in the open waters, the Big Fitz being one of them. She had been takeing on water, her radar knocked out, her communications gear damaged, but because of her well seasoned expert crew Captain McSorley informed the ship accompanying them that “We are holding our own”. Those were the last words heard from the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald.

Over the years there has been much speculation over what caused the Big Fitz to sink so fast that all 29 of her crew persihed with her. Both U.S. and Canadian authorities have tried to solve the mystery. It seems most likely that her hull may have been bottomed out and she split in half by a rogue wave of immense proprtions. You may find the following web sites of interest:

http://www.ssefo.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgI8bta-7aw

Please when you get a moment today think of the families and crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald along with all of the sailors who have given up their lives to better our lives on the Great Lakes and oceans of the world. To the men of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald “Big Fitz” I salute you and bow my head in prayer for you, your fellow sailors and families.

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In 2010, Gordon Lightfoot changed one line in the lyrics of the song as a result of recent findings that it was waves and not crew error that lead to the shipwreck. Each year at Spilit Rock Light House they light the lantern and blow the fog horns as people still gather to hold prayer services, for the 29 sailors who died on the Edmund Fitzgerald!

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called “Gitche Gumee.”
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the “Gales of November” came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship’s bell rang,
could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev’ry man knew, as the captain did too
‘twas the witch of November come stealin’.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin’.
When afternoon came it was freezin’ rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin’.
"Fellas, it’s too rough t’feed ya.
"At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
“Fellas, it’s bin good t’know ya!”
The captain wired in he had water comin’ in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
if they’d put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral.
"The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call “Gitche Gumee.”
“Superior,” they said, “never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!”

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Very interesting,We take so much for granted

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Somewhere I have a picture of the Edmond Fitzgerald entering the harbor at Duluth, Minnisota. I took it while stationed at the air force base between October 1966 and January 1970. I have also witnessed the power of November storms on Lake Superior. The waves from a northeaster get funneled into the western end of the lake and really pile up into some monsters. Whitefish Bay gets the same effect from north and west winds.

There were not many of the great lake fleet I did not see at one time or another many of them more than once.

Mother Nature is indeed a force to be reconed with.

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and yes they still ring the bell at Mariners cathedral every year. we have a good friend whole works on the Great Lakes shipping lines. oh the stories he tells of the weather.

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My dad was a ‘pilot’ on the Great Lakes freighters (the one who actually steers the ship.) Another freighter, the S.S. Carl D, Bradley sank in Lake Michigan in November of 1958 during a violent storm. The 639 foot long lake freighter was the largest ship on the great lakes. A huge wave broke the ship in half. 33 men were lost, 2 survived and were picked up 20 miles from where the ship sank. 52 children were left fatherless… Dad and I both knew several of the men who were lost. I think everyone who sails on these ships live with the knowledge they might not make it back.

7

Thanks for posting this … may they rest in peace and know nothing of what we have done to dishonor them.